Trainer Joe Aquilino, a mainstay of The New York Racing Association (NYRA) circuit for more than three decades, died today following a lengthy battle with congestive heart failure. He was 76.

Aquilino’s biggest win came in 1999 when Badge won the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct Racetrack. Two starts later, Badge was third in the Preakness at 58-1 after threading through traffic in the stretch.

Aquilino was a native of New York City who worked approximately 20 years as a firefighter, serving in Crown Heights and later in Flushing.

After falling down a flight of stairs and suffering ligament and cartilage damage to a knee during a call, Aquilino decided to change careers, pulling double duty as a firefighter and as a hotwalker for trainer Frank LaBoccetta before taking out his trainer’s license in 1977.

“I was always a fan of racing,” Aquilino told the Daily Racing Form in 1995. “When I wasn’t at the firehouse, I was at the track. I worked for Frank for six years, then I got my trainer’s license.”

Aquilino won his first race in 1977 at Atlantic City Race Course with Amberdias. In 1982, Aquilino won Aquilino, who resided in Bayside, N.Y., is survived by his wife Victoria and adult children Joanne, Theresa, Laura, and Nicholas.

Help wanted for Belmont Stakes

Saturday, June 7 is Belmont Stakes Day and once again, Forum Staffing Services is looking for betting clerks, whitecaps, ushers, and parking and cleaning staff.

To fill the positions, Forum Staffing Services will be hosting several job fairs at Aqueduct Racetrack and Belmont Park:

• From 2 to 6 p.m., Monday, April 28 and Tuesday, April 29 at Aqueduct Racetrack, on the fourth floor of the Clubhouse in the Equestris Restaurant.

• From 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., Monday, May 5 and Tuesday, May 6 in the Marquee tent in the Belmont Park backyard.

• From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, May 10 in the Marquee tent at Belmont Park.